Page 6

Aeric took another step closer to Maude, one bronze hand reaching out to lay gently on Maude’s shoulder.

Bryn felt that she should step out and leave them alone for this moment.

A bigger part of her worried about how her sister would react: so far, she hadn’t handled any of the news well other than the fact that she had died in her arms.

That was a conversation for another time.

Bryn instead peeled away quietly, leaving Maude’s line of vision to give them the illusion of privacy.

If she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t ready to let Maude out of her sight again so soon.

Already, she could hear Maude’s breathing pick up as if she were afraid of what the Shadow King would say.

“Your name is Maude Vilulf, daughter of Sylvi and Aeric and the Heir of Shadows,” Aeric said slowly, each word drawing out as time seemed to slow around the room. Shadows crept in through the windows until only a small bubble of light remained with the three of them inside. “You are my daughter.”

Bryn rushed forward as the shadows hovering in the corners snapped in around Maude.

Darkness overwhelmed Maude as she succumbed to the shock that swelled inside of her.

The open windows had been swirling with the shadows that had followed her throughout her life, ready to pounce when she needed them.

The high-pitched sound of wind whirling around her was the only thing she could hear until the soft touch on her shoulder brought her back to the present.

It was too much. All of it— the reincarnation, the Valkyries, her death, Herrick, the Bone Dagger, their failure, her mother's secrets piling one on top of the other until the stack threatened to crash over her and drown her in the truth mixed into her lies. It was too much.

Warm hands lightly cradled her face like she was the most precious thing in the world to them.

They gave her something to hold onto as she spiraled even as it left Maude reeling from the foreign emotion.

She had never dealt with a soft touch and stable emotion before Herrick and didn’t know what to make of it now.

As quickly as they had appeared, they slipped away.

Only the warmth of the touch on her skin reminded her that she had not imagined the gesture.

She focused on the only thing that she could hold on to.

Herrick .

He was a prisoner to her father.

No, not her father. If he had raised her, wasn't he still her father? Maude shook her head; it didn't matter. Herrick was captive.

Maude wasn’t sure which statement was better. If her father— if Helvig— believed that Herrick was important to her in any way, he would spare him to lure his Heir in, right? But did he know that she was even alive? She couldn't be sure.

Through the thick darkness, Maude could hear the melodic voice of the Shadow King arguing with her sister.

Half-sister.

No, her full sister. Bryn was her blood.

Gods, what was going on? She had died and happily fallen to the welcoming embrace of death, and now she had woken to a convoluted family tree she never asked for.

“She needs time to process this,” her sister argued. “She has known nothing but a hard life in the grips of Harald Helvig. Believe me, this is not going to be well received.”

A pause.

“I understand that this is a lot to process for you both; you shared a mother and spent your formative years together. That is not a bond that can be broken, nor is it one I am trying to break,” the voice of the Shadow King said.

“But she needs to understand her heritage before she makes any decisions.”

“Your Majesty, my sister and I grew up with very different lives,” Bryn said, the bitterness in her voice reflecting Maude’s feelings. “I love her with every fiber of my being, but our formative years were spent apart.”

The Shadow King— Aeric, her birth father — remained silent.

“The bond you are speaking of comes from blood but also from shared trauma,” Bryn continued, her voice becoming hollow in a way that Maude wanted to soothe away.

“Until she can free the man she loves from Helvig's bonds, Maude will not be willing to hear a word you speak or even begin to accept the truth.”

Her sister's words held a ring of finality to them as she uttered them to the Elven King of Shadow.

Refusing to deal with the blood connection the Shadow King proclaimed, Maude chose this moment to drop her hold on her galder .

Quickly, words ceased as she emerged from shadows she did not know she could control and looked up at Aeric.

“We go after Herrick before anything else,” Maude stated, her words leaving no room for argument even as they left her on a breath of air.

“Maude,” Bryn began, but she quickly silenced her.

“No,” she said with a ring of finality. “Herrick comes first. And you, Shadow King, are going to help us.”

When she looked back at her self-proclaimed father, she expected him to be angry at her demand.

Instead, he looked amused. In the glint of his humored, silver eyes, Maude saw an expression so familiar she had to look away.

She had given others that same look in her amusement, only recently discovering she could feel that way without the bitterness of disdain leaking into every action.

He really must be her kin.

“So like your mother,” the King said, that humor turning to sorrow in a flash.

“I don’t want to hear about my mother,” Maude whispered, her eyes closing as the memory of her death threatened to swallow her whole.

The king was silent for a beat.

“Of course, I’ll help you,” he finally said softly as he looked at her. “When you’ve regained your strength.”

He strode out before Maude could argue. Bryn shot her a look that said You Know He’s Right, So Shut Up About It .

As soon as the door closed, she said to Bryn, “I need to leave this room. I need to move. Can you show me around?”

“I haven't seen much of it myself; I’ve been in here every day,” Bryn replied, sheepishly avoiding her gaze.

Maude’s chest swelled at that, the feeling foreign but not unpleasant.

“Well, let’s go then,” Maude said as she tried to stand.

Her knees buckled beneath her weight again. Bryn caught her and all but shoved her to the bed again .

“Will you stop that? You haven't been moving for almost three weeks; give yourself some gods damned time to recover!”

She let out a frustrated growl before slumping in temporary defeat.

“This is so fucked,” Maude said, dropping her head into her hands.

The bed sank next to her as Bryn said and awkwardly placed a hand on Maude’s shoulder. “Yes, it really is.”

The two shared a look for a beat of silence before Maude cracked a shaky smile, chuckling.

Bryn smiled and laughed once as well. Soon, they were both howling, hands clutching at their sides as they both released ten years' worth of pent-up grief, love, rage, and relief in a way that only sisters could.